Course overview

Description

Digital data transmission studies how information is sent reliably through noisy communication channels. The course connects the mathematical models of detection and decoding with the physical signals used to carry data, and with the fundamental limits imposed by power and bandwidth.

We begin with the decision made by a receiver after observing a noisy symbol. We then study how codes improve reliability, how mutual information measures what a channel can convey, and how continuous-time waveforms lead to modulation, demodulation and channel capacity.

The course is taught in English. The teaching team is Josep Font-Segura (coordinator), Mehdi Dabirnia, Adriano Pastore and Andrea Pizzo. Contact: josep.font@upf.edu.

Lecture notes

Seminars

Ten Friday sessions, from 12:30 to 14:30, put the lecture material into practice. Work in groups of two or three on seven questions, selecting an answer and explaining it mathematically in English. Printed lecture notes may be used during the session.

Seminar solutions are released after the corresponding session. Each seminar is published here with its solutions after the session; the schedule below lists every session and room.

Tests

Five individual tests of ten questions with two options each, at the start of the first lecture of Topics 2 to 6. Each test is published here with its answers after it is taken.

Exercises

Practise each topic with multiple-choice exercises, three options and one correct answer, each with a worked solution. Each released topic has 50 exercises, developed from the lecture and seminar material. Topic 1 covers discrete, Gaussian, exponential and uniform-noise channels, different priors and detectors, decision regions, energy, SNR and error probabilities. Topic 2 covers codes and rate, ML and MAP decoding of the repetition code on the bit-flipping, bit-erasing, Gaussian and exponential channels, hard against soft decisions, energy per information bit, and the parity code. Online practice does not contribute to the course mark.

Exams

The midterm of Modality A and the two finals are published here with their solutions after each sitting.

Evaluation

Two assessment modalities are available. Modality B applies by default; choose Modality A on Aula Global by 11 October 2026 at 23:59. The choice applies for the whole term. The final examination of both modalities is resittable in July 2027; the midterm is not.

Modality A

With midterm mark $M$ and final examination mark $E$, both on a scale of 0–10, the course mark is $F=0.625(0.20M+0.80E)$. The maximum course mark is $6.25$, and passing requires $F\geq5$. The midterm has twelve true/false statements and lasts 30 minutes; the statements draw on parts of the published theory collection and may be paraphrased. The final lasts two hours, with seven problems of the published final collection, four options each and a required mathematical justification.

Modality B

Let $E$ be the final examination mark, $S$ the seminar average, $X$ the transversal assignment mark and $T$ the test average. Seminars and the assignment form the submissions component $D=(5S+X)/6$, which weighs 30%. If $E\geq5$, the course mark is $F=0.60E+0.30D+0.10T=0.60E+0.25S+0.05X+0.10T$. If $E<5$, then $F=E$. Passing requires $F\geq5$. The transversal assignment contributes 5%; its task and submission arrangements will be announced separately.

Seminars consist of seven questions with three options and a written justification, in groups of two or three. Five individual tests cover Topics 1–5; Topic 6 has no class test. Each test lasts 15 minutes and has ten questions with two options each. The final has seven questions inspired by the seminars and the content taught, two hours, four options each and a required mathematical justification.

Classroom activities

Seminar answers and explanations are written in English. Printed lecture notes may be used in seminars; tests are taken without notes. Electronic devices, calculators, AI tools and online help are not allowed during these activities. No electronic device may be in sight. If a device is detected, the student receives a grade of zero in the test, and in a seminar all the members of the group receive a grade of zero.

The online exercises are for independent practice and do not contribute to your course mark.

Schedule

First term, 2026–27. Check Aula Global and the official timetable for changes. The final examination lasts two hours within the scheduled 09:30–12:00 interval; the exact interval and the rooms are to be confirmed.